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VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI’s social encyclical is very much alive and is expected to be published before the end of the year, Cardinal Renato Martino told reporters Wednesday.

“The project exists, and at this point it’s certain. We hope the pope can publish it before the end of the year,” Cardinal Martino said at a Vatican press conference.

Sources earlier this year said the encyclical was provisionally titled, “Caritas in Veritate” (“Charity in Truth,”) and was expected to touch on issues related to social justice and globalization. The encyclical has reportedly been undergoing some revisions, and there was a rumor floating around recently that it wouldn’t be out until next spring.

Cardinal Martino added that the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, of which he’s the president, is working on a document on globalization. He said this would be a more technical document than the encyclical, taking a close look at poverty in the age of a globalized economy.

Meanwhile, the Pontifical Council `Cor Unum,’ which promotes and coordinates Catholic charitable giving, is preparing a separate document on immigration, according to Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, who spoke at the same press conference.

He said the last such document was released in 1992, and there was a need to update it.